As Storm Disrupts Plans, G.O.P. Takes Up Tensions

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TAMPA, Fla. — It was supposed to be the start of their four-day effort to sell Mitt Romney to the nation, but Monday instead proved to be a day of frustration for Republicans as the delay in beginning their convention deprived them of their national stage and brought a fresh airing of intraparty tensions.

As Tropical Storm Isaac brushed past the convention here Monday, it moved slowly on a more dangerous path toward New Orleans, growing stronger by the hour. Forecasters on Monday afternoon predicted that the storm would land somewhere in southeastern Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane, just as Republicans were set to kick their gathering into high gear.

While there were predictions of winds of 100 miles per hour accompanying the storm, most menacing was the prospect of the enormous amounts of water that Isaac will be bringing ashore. Residents in low-lying areas were urged to leave because of the possibility of storm surges as high as 12 feet along the Gulf Coast and heavy rainfall.

With the convention already delayed by one day, Mr. Romney was heading to Tampa on Tuesday with his top aides eager to quickly hold the roll call vote to officially make him the party’s presidential nominee for fear that the storm could cause further disruption. Party leaders gaveled the convention to order Monday to mark the formal opening of the event and then adjourned it.

The Romney campaign’s decision to postpone most events for a day because of the storm deprived the party of the carefully prepared convention script that was to keep a super-tight focus on Mr. Romney and a still tighter lid on discord.

With the vacuum created by the postponement, “everybody who has a reason to be upset about something has time to talk about it,” said Drew McKissick, a South Carolina delegate. And, as seen Monday, to try to do something about it.

Mr. McKissick was busy rallying support to fight Mr. Romney’s legal team over new party rules that he said would hinder the kind of insurgent challenges that Mr. Romney has faced this year — a clash that appeared to have been resolved enough to prevent it from spilling onto the convention floor Tuesday.

A day of closed-door talks between Romney aides and conservative activists ended with a compromise that one person involved said would “result in what we think is a very warm and fuzzy convention.” Some activists announced that they had succeeded in preventing what they called a power grab by the party establishment.

But supporters of Representative Ron Paul of Texas expressed frustration over what they said were efforts by Mr. Romney’s aides and supporters to silence their voices in the convention hall. They were goaded along by Mr. Paul, who has declined a speaking slot, accusing the Romney campaign of trying to control his message.

And supporters of Representative Todd Akin, the Missouri Senate candidate who lost much of the party’s support after his comments on “legitimate” rape and pregnancy, revived Tea Party-infused arguments against the “establishment” wing of the party, saying Mr. Romney and “party bosses” had abandoned him after his remarks.

All of it unfolded before a restless audience of about 4,500 delegates and 16,000 journalists left with little to do but stare at television screens covered with images of Isaac bearing down on the Gulf Coast, a haunting reminder of Hurricane Katrina — and, in this context, the political damage its aftermath caused to George W. Bush.